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Scott Maybury

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Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 04:56:20 PM
Well I just typed a report and added all my photos and lost it for some reason so here is the abridged version  :)

Mates Tim Dave and I fished with Adrian Watt and his awesome deckie Joe out of Matava Resort on the above dates. We had such good weather we fished all 6 days we were there instead of the planned 5.

GT action was consistent to hot. We landed 55 GT to 40kg odd in 6 days, but a big chunk of one day was dedicated to jigging at the sea mount, and we spent part of most days during the low tide jigging the reef edges. We also prob saw and either missed or dropped as many fish again as we landed so the action was good.

Most fish were in the 10-25kg range but I got one that would have nudged 40kg which I was stoked with, Dave got one that would have been just over 40kg and Tim got one in the mid 30's, so we were all really happy. We also lost a couple of good ones

The day we jigged at the sea mount was crazy. We got a few 3-5kg doggies on arrival, plus a reasonabel amberjack. Then Tim got a nicer doggie, then I got one about 25kg. After that all hell broke loose when Tim and I both connected to good fish, his around 45kg mine later weighed at 63kg (I weigh 66kg!). We spent 15 minutes trying to revive mine to no avail, but it did not go to waste with plenty of happy resort guests and local villagers. Whilst that was happening David had hooked up to a 25kg Wahoo which snapped his jig in half, mental stuff.

Next drop Tim and I again hooked up with me landing a solid 25-30kg fish. Tim's went mental and later was weighed at 64kg. Again, it was bleeding badly and obviously suffering from barotrauma. It didn't release.

Given the hot bite, we then made the tough but we thought right decision to go throw poppers as we didn't want to kill any more big doggies and they clearly were not releasing well.

GT highlight for me, apart from my biggest fish, was Dave's. He had a decent red bass on and we saw a GT following it, and Tim was about to put in a cast behind it when the GT just destroyed the whole patch of water where the bass had been, and Dave was on tight to a big GT. He landed it but Tim and I spent the first few minutes of the fight in fits of laughter as it was so awesome, and Dave's shock and pain, on Day 6, were quite funny to us....

Scott Maybury

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 05:02:02 PM
Here are some pics
















































Scott Maybury

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 05:08:26 PM
More pics































Couldn't recommend fishing out of Matava with Adrian and Joe enough. Our expectations were exceeded at every turn, which is a rarity on any type of holiday, let alone a fishing one where so much is dependant on external factors out of the control of anyone.

Technical info -

Rods used - Hots Gipang 75 and 79, OR Widowmaker, Ripple Fisher 78XH and 79R, Hots Wei World, Smith AMJ 52EX, Smith JTK 70SJ and 74PG

Lures - a variety of medium to large sized poppers worked well. My picks for the week in order would have been the Craftbait GT3 Ultra Bigmouth, Full Scale Kong 200, Fisherman s-pop HP tail 160.
Hammerhead C, E and G cups, Cubera 150's and Ebipop 140's also produced well.

Jigs that worked best were the Daiwa Speed Jigs, 300gm and Shimano Butterfly jigs

Andre van Wyk

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 05:22:38 PM
WOW!!!!!

What an incredible trip Maybs, insane man!!! The fish, the weather, the pics, the write up!!! 10/10 all round bro, looks like an absolute dream trip!

Well done, and big thanks for sharing, I'm now gonna wipe the drool off my keyboard so I can get back to work!!!

Surperb!
To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth...

Sam Conacher

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 05:23:57 PM
awesome Scott what a great trip.


good to see you got great weather and some good fish caught to.

Callan Wallace

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 05:49:58 PM
Outstanding report and great photos. Adrian put you onto some really nice fish.
Cheers

Luke Wyrsta

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 05:52:48 PM
Great report!

Scott Maybury

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 06:49:10 PM
Thanks guys, here is a couple short videos of doggie action. Video was not on for the hook up and first runs which are the best parts, but hopefully you can pick up some of the atmosphere of excitement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJdCMWbLtzc#noexternalembed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-xC0cynZds#noexternalembed

Brandon Khoo

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 06:58:42 PM
a tremendous report!!
If it swims; I want to catch it!

Shane Hartstone

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 07:11:37 PM
Wicked trip report guys.  It's good to have a beer with George back at the bar at the end of the day.  Adrian might have to put the whole of next Janurary aside for GT Popping forum members???

Robert Palcak

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 07:14:17 PM
Awesome report Scott.
There's 4 of us headed to Matava on the 12th of Feb... hopefully we do as good as you guys did!
Fantastic GT's and some cracker Doggies!
Last Edit: January 21, 2010, 07:16:02 PM by Robert Palcak
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Matt Kilpatrick

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 07:23:41 PM
Well done Scott, what a fantastic trip. How about another trip next January?

Chris Young

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 07:25:40 PM
Quality pics mate, and a great report  ;D
I think that Kong deserves retirement ;)

Mick Cunningham

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 07:59:46 PM
wow look like you guy had fun over there didn,t you ya ..

thank,s for sharing with us ..  ;)

John Campbell

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Re: Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010
January 21, 2010, 08:05:47 PM

Great report bro, bout time you got lucky with a cracker of a trip with everything
going right, it must have been that warm up trip up north here after x mas  ;D